Woven tape provided with a list having protruding loops

ABSTRACT

The tape comprises a body having a fabric structure of single thickness and a list having a fabric structure of double thickness with intermediate links. A spirally arranged list thread is trapped in the list with the leading edges of its spiral turns protruding laterally out of the list. The tape body results from conventional interweaving of a weft thread, forming double picks, with usual warp threads; the list includes a lower strata, disposed on one side of the list thread spiral and formed by the interweaving of a first series of weft double picks with a first series of warp threads, and an upper strata disposed on the other side of the spiral and formed by the interweaving of a second series of weft double picks with a series of auxiliary warp threads and a second series of warp threads. The intermediate links (portions of threads bridging the strata) are constituted by the traversing portions of the weft double picks of the second series and by the traversing portions of the warp threads, which traversing portions are disposed between the turns of the spiral and are received in the trailing loops of these turns. When the list thread is made of a filiform element provided with a deformable hardening material, a deformation of its crosssection at the apex of each protruding loops provides the latter with the required shape to constitute the hooking elements of each half of a sliding clasp fastener.

Auer et al.

[ 1 Nov. 12, 1974 [75] Inventors: Ulrich Auer, Chene-Bougeries,

Geneva; Andre Nicole, Puplinge, Geneva, Switzerland 1 [73] Assignee: Interbrew S. A., Luxembourg, Luxembourg [22] Filed: July 17, 1972 [21,] Appl. 'No.: 272,572

Related U.S. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 74,744, Sept. 23, 1970, Pat. No.

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 9, 1969 1taly 23132/69 Mar. 25, 1970 Switzerland 4487/70 [52] U.S. C1. 139/384 B, 24/205.l6 [51] Int. Cl D03d 1/00 [58] Field of Search 139/1, 11,116,384 R, 139/384 B; 24/205.l3 C, 205.13 D, 205.16 C

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,776,847 9/1930 Blair 139/384 B 3,022,803 2/1962 Berberich et a1 139/384 B 3,247,871 4/1966 Lacam et al. 24/205.13 C

3,454,052 7/1969 Burbank 139/384 B 3,692,068 9/1972 Auer et a1 139/1 WOVEN TAPE PROVIDED WITH A LIST HAVING PROTRUDING LOOPS Primary Examiner-Henry S. .laudon Attorney, Agent, or FirmKarl F. Ross; Herbert Dubno [57] ABSTRACT The tape comprises a body having a fabric structure of single thickness and a list having a fabric structure of double thickness with intermediate links. A spirally arranged list thread is trapped in the list with the leading edges of its spiral turns protruding laterally out of the list. The tape body results from conventional interweaving of a weft thread, forming double picks, with usual warp threads; the list includes a lower strata, disposed on one side of the list thread spiral and formed by the interweaving of a first series of weft double picks with a first series of warp threads, and an upper strata disposed on the other side of the spiral and formed by the interweaving of a second series of weft double picks with a series of auxiliary warp threads and a second series of warp threads. The intermediate links (portions of threads bridging the strata) are constituted by the traversing portions of the weft double picks of the second series and by the traversing portions of the warp threads, which traversing portions are disposed between the turns of the spiral and are received in the trailing loops of these turns.

When the list thread is made of a filiform element provided with a deformable hardening material, a deformation of its cross-section at the apex of each protruding loops provides the latter with the required shape to constitute the hooking elements of each half of a sliding clasp fastener.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures nun PATENTED 2M SHEET 1% 2 3.847.188

FIG

K W m,

FIG. 2

WOVEN TAPE PROVIDED WITH A LIST HAVING PROTRUDING LOOPS This application is a division of Ser. No. 74,744 filed Sept. 23, 1970, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,692,068.

This invention relates to a tape provided along one of its two longitudinal edges with a list having successive loops that protrude laterally out of this list.

Such tapes may be utilized in household textile products such as tablecloths, napkins, bedclothes, coverlets, curtains, furniture coverings and the like, wherein the presence of protruding loops provides a purely, decorative effect.

The protruding loops may, however, also have a special function, such as providing hooking elements when the tape is used as one half of a sliding clasp fastener. In such applications, the loops must have a mechanical rigidity and, in addition, a special form enabling them to come into hooking interengagement with the loops of a second tape of identical structure.

The object of the invention is to provide a tape of this type, in which the loops are formed by a thread that is incorporated in the fabric constituting the list so that these loops form an integral part of the list and are firmly attached to the tape, their separation from the latter thus being impossible without destroying the tape itself.

This tape is characterized in that it comprises a tape body and a list in which is trapped a spirally arranged list thread with the leading ends of the turns thereof projecting from the outer edge of the list and constitutin g said protruding loops, the tape body having a fabric structure of single thickness formed by the interweaving of a double pick weft with warp threads. The list has a fabric structure of double thickness with intermediate links which includes a lower strata formed by the interweaving of a first series of double picks of the weft with a first series of warp threads, the lower strata being disposed to one side of said spiral and constituting one of the surfaces of the list. An upper strata is formed by the interweaving of a second series of double picks of the weft with a series of auxiliary warp threads and a second series of warp threads, said second layer being cated to the other side of said spiral and constituting the opposite surface of the list. Intermediate are formed by the traversing portions of the second series double picks and by the traversing portions of the second series warp threads, the traversing portions passing from one strata to the other and being disposed between the consecutive turns of the spiral so as to be received in the trailing loops of the spiral turns.

The following description refers to an example of the tape provided by the present invention and to various structures of a special thread that is more particularly suited to constitute the protruding loops. It is illustrated by the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view, with parts broken away, showing the structure of the tape.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are respectively a diagrammatic crosssection and a diagrammatic longitudinal section of the fabric of the tape illustrated in FIG. 1, which sections are respectively taken along the directions indicated by arrows A and B of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a plan view, on an enlarged scale, showing how the tape represented on FIG. 1 to 3 can be made with a needle loom.

As is visible in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tape according to the invention comprises three parts, i.e., a body 101, which has the structure of a normal fabric of single thickness, a list 102, which has the structure of a fabric of double thickness with intermediate links, and a flattened spiral 103, the heads 104 of its turns forming the protruding list loops. The tape body 101 is formed by the usual interweaving of warp threads 105 with double picks 106 and 107 of a weft thread. The list 102 is formed by a first entwinement or interweaving 108 (FIG. 2) which involves a first series of warp threads I09, 110, and 112 and a first series of weft double picks 106, and a second entwinement 113, which involves a second series of warp threads, auxiliary warp threads 114, 115 and 116 and a second series of weft double picks 107. The first entwinement 108 forms the bottom (lower) strata of the double thickness fabric and the second entwinement 113 forms the top (upper) strata thereof. Between these two stratas is trapped the flattened spiral 103. The warp threads belonging to the top strata 113 are more highly tensioned than the warp threads belonging to the bottom strata 108, thus compelling portions of some of these latter threads, the threads 111 and the weft double picks 107 to rise up to the level of the upper strata 113. As a result of this, the vertical portions 111a of the warp threads 111 and the vertical portions 107 a and 107 b of the double picks 107 constitute intermediate links in the double thickness fabric forming the list. These vertical portions 111a of the warp threads 111 and the vertical portions 107a and 107b of theweft double picks 107 moreover constitute spacing thicknesses which serve to separate consecutive turns of the spiral (e.g. turns 117 and 118) and to keep them equidistant from one another and oriented in parallel planes at right angles to the list (e.g. planes 117a and 118a in thevcase of turns 117 and 118 appearing in FIG. 3); as for the vertical portions 107a of the double picks 107 which double picks are entwined by the internal portions 119 of the spiral turns), they prevent the latter from escaping out of the fabric and consequently anchor the spiral 103 in the list 102. Moreover, the auxiliary warp threads 114, 115 and 116 of the top strata 113, the outermost warp threads 109 and 112, which, in the bottom strata 108, delimit the list 102 widthwise, are subjected to a greater tension than the other warp threads and 111 of this bottom strata thereby preventing any, lateral displacement of the elements forming the list 102. i

The lower strata of the latter underlies the lower shanks of the spiral turns while the upper warp strata overlies the upper shanks of the turns and the weft portions 107a, 107b rise up from the lower strata atone side of the list, cross over and overlie the upper strata and return to the lower strata on the other side of the list.

The list thread is represented on FIGS. 1 to 3 as being thicker than the warp threads or the weft thread. This is done for better clarity, but also corresponds to reality in a specific application of the tape that will be described below, i.e., the application as either half of a sliding clasp fastener. However, even when used for purely decorative purposes, the list thread may be different in some instances from the warp, and weft threads respectively and these differences may lie in the color, in the width, or in the structure of the thread, for example.

The tape described above can easily be made on a needle loom of conventional type, provided with a socalled free needle. As is depicted in FIG. 4, the free needle 31 has the appearance of a hook positioned parallel to the tape edge along which the list 32 with protruding loops is to be formed. This hook is free in so far as it is not secured to any part of the machine: there is merely an abutment 33 which cooperates with its nose 34 for the support thereof, this abutment being provided with a slot 35 in which the nose engages, The shank 36 of the free needle is kept in place by the heads of the list double picks that have been inserted in the course of the previous stages of the weaving operation. The abutment 33 is secured to the end of a sliding rod 37 actuated by any suitable means (not shown) arranged to impart thereto a small reciprocatory movement (represented by the double arrow 50) parallel to the edge of the list 32 each time the auxiliary needle 28 completes its movement of insertion between a rearward position as shown and a forward position indicated in dash-dotted lines; the amplitude of this movement is just sufficient to disengage the nose 34 whereby the head of the list double pick may come and entwine it. FIG. shows the tape 23 at the instant when a double pick 4 of the weft is being inserted by the needle 24 at the same time as a double pick 11 of the list thread is being inserted by the auxiliary needle 28 beneath the top and bottom strata 113 and 108 (FIGS. 2 and 3). The head of the double pick 4 is brought into engagement with the nose of the selvedge crocheting hook 27, whilst'the head 12 of the double pick 11 of the list thread is brought into engagement with the nose 34 of the free needle 31, the abutment 33 being located in its rearward position in which it has released the nose 34. At the instant when the auxiliary needle 28 moves back to its rest position, the tension exerted by the list thread feeding system (not shown) causes the head 12 of the double pick 11 to slip under the nose 34 of the free needle 31 and to form a loop similar to loop 15. The abutment 33 then returns to its forward position, thus preventing the free needle 31 from being entrained with the tape 23 travelling in direction 46: it is the protruding loops that slide along the shank 36 of the free needle 31 and which progressively free themselves from it by slipping off its end 47. During that time, the weft needle 24 (which inserts the weft of the tape) is withdrawn also, and the selvedge crocheting hook 27 carries out the known movement that leads to the formation of the crocheting 18.

For simplicity, it has been assumed in the example described above and represented in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4, that there is one list thread double pick insertion for each two weft thread double pick insertions, but it is evident that any other mode of insertion may be contemplated, depending on the thread diameters the like.

lf the tape is intended to be used as part of a sliding clasp fastener, the list thread can assume, in addition to the various forms listed above, the form of a thread made of a metal or of a metal alloy. It can thus consist of a bundle of monostrands made of synthetic material, of a metal or an alloy, whether twisted together or not. When the list thread assumes the form of a tube (tubular monostrand, which may be made of a synthetic material, of a metal or of a metal alloy), the tube may be filled with a material forming the core of this list thread; besides the cited case where the core is made of a textile thread or of a metal thread (the list thread is then a sheathed thread), the core can also, in another case, be made of any soft material, other than textile. I

In general, the list thread must be made, either wholly or in part asexplained above, of a material which is at the same time sufficiently flexible to form the loops, sufficiently deformable, in the case of a sliding clasp fastener tape, for its cross-section to be deformed at the apexes of the loop heads for the loops to form the hooking elements of such a fastener, and sufficiently rigid to enable these hooking elements once formed to fulfill their function in a fastener. The choice of material must therefore be the result of a compromise between the required properties of flexiblility, deformability and rigidity, and this compromise depends moreover on the transverse structure of the thread, which can be either homogeneous (solid monostrand, or tubular monostrand) or heterogeneous (sheathed thread, or reinforced thread with a single stranded core, whether metallic or not, or with a multiple stranded core, whether made of textile fibres, of a metal or some other suitable material and whether twisted or not).

We claim:

l. A tape comprising a tape body and a list connected with said tape body, and a flattened spiral list thread received in said list and having turns forming loops projecting from an outer edge of the list, said turns having upper and lower shanks, said tape body having a fabric structure of single thickness formed by interwoven double-pick weft threads and warp threads, said list having a fabric structure of double thickness comprismg:

a lower strata of warp threads interwoven with said doublepick weft threads and extending below an outer portion of the lower shank of said turns;

an upper strata of warp threads extending above an outer portion of the upper shanks of said turns over the width of the list;

portions of said double-pick weft threads extending from said lower strata between said turns at said outer edge up to said upper strata of warp threads, thence over the warp threads of said upper strata and back to the lower strata at an inner edge of said list; and

portions of the warp threads of said lower strata rising between each lower shank of one turn and the upper shank of a consecutive turn over the portions of said double-pick weft threads overlying said upper strata and back between said shanks to the plane of the lower strata.

2. A tape according to claim 1, for forming one half of a sliding clasp fastener, wherein said spiral is constituted by a list thread which includes a deformable material at least at those locations where it forms said protruding loops, and wherein the cross-section of the list thread is deformed at the apex of each of the protruding loops to provide the latter with the required shape to form the fastener hooking elements. 

1. A tape comprising a tape body and a list connected with said tape body, and a flattened spiral list thread received in said list and having turns forming loops projecting from an outer edge of the list, said turns having upper and lower shanks, said tape body having a fabric structure of single thickness formed by interwoven double-pick weft threads and warp threads, said list having a fabric structure of double thickness comprising: a lower strata of warp threads interwoven with said doublepick weft threads and extending below an outer portion of the lower shank of said turns; an upper strata of warp threads extending above an outer portion of the upper shanks of said turns over the width of the list; portions of said double-pick weft threads extending from said lower strata between said turns at said outer edge up to said upper strata of warp threads, thence over the warp threads of said upper strata and back to the lower strata at an inner edge of said list; and portions of the warp threads of said lower strata rising between each lower shank of one turn and the upper shank of a consecutive turn over the portions of said double-pick weft threads overlying said upper strata and back between said shanks to the plane of the lower strata.
 2. A tape according to claim 1, for forming one half of a sliding clasp fastener, wherein said spiral is constituted by a list thread which includes a deformable material at least at those locations where it forms said protruding loops, and wherein the cross-section of the list thread is deformed at the apex of each of the protruding loops to provide the latter with the required shape to form the fastener hooking elements. 